A translation bureau for Ninotsminda - TARGMANEBI's service for a municipality where the border is part of everyday life. Along the Bavra-Gyumri route people travel to relatives, to market, to the doctor and to school, and every step produces a document: an Armenian citizen applies for residence in Ninotsminda and has to submit Armenian papers with a notarized Georgian translation; someone from Ninotsminda buys a house in Gyumri and takes Georgian papers with an apostille and translation; a child was born in one country and goes to school in the other, and the records of both countries have to match. Often this is not a single order but a family's ongoing flow of paperwork, which we keep for years using one table of names.
Ninotsminda's second, historical thread is the Doukhobors: a community resettled from Russia to Javakheti in the 19th century, a large part of which later left for Canada. Their descendants in Canada, the USA and Russia search Georgian archives for their ancestors' papers - parish and village records, Soviet-era certificates, cemetery records - and ask for an English translation. The third thread is livestock farming and fishing around Lakes Paravani and Khanchali. From Ninotsminda it is four hours to Tbilisi and half an hour to Akhalkalaki; the courier comes to Ninotsminda together with Akhalkalaki, once a week.
Both sides of the Bavra border - a family's paperwork
The documents of a family living near Bavra move in both directions across the border. The package that serves on the Georgian side:
An Armenian citizen in Georgia
- For a residence permit - Armenian passport, criminal record certificate and marriage certificate in Georgian
- For marriage to a Georgian spouse - a certificate of marital status
- To enrol a child at school - the Armenian birth certificate and report card
- To buy land or a house in Ninotsminda - power of attorney and ID
- Medical records for a Javakheti hospital
A Ninotsminda resident in Armenia
- To buy property in Gyumri or Yerevan - Georgian passport and certificates with apostille
- A Georgian birth certificate for an Armenian school and polyclinic
- A certificate of Georgian citizenship for the Armenian military commissariat
- Georgian documents for burial and inheritance in Armenia
- A life certificate for the Armenian pension service
Cross-border trade
- Veterinary certificates for livestock and customs declarations
- Invoices for cheese and potatoes for an Armenian buyer
- An Armenian vehicle registration certificate for Georgian registration
- Border crossing certificates and fine notices
- Small contracts for shops operating in both countries
Most of a border family's papers are in Russian or have a Russian version - Armenian authorities use bilingual forms, which makes the translation direct and quick. A document only in Armenian we price after seeing it. On the two sides of the border a surname is often written in two ways - in Latin transliteration in the Georgian passport, and in Armenian and in Russian with the "-yan" ending in the Armenian one; we keep both in a note so that the residence service or the Armenian cadastre sees one person.
Doukhobor descendants - the Gorelovka archive for Canada
The descendants of the Doukhobors of Gorelovka, Orlovka and Spasovka search for their ancestors' traces in Javakheti from British Columbia and Saskatchewan in Canada, from the USA and from Russia - for genealogy, for books, for family history, sometimes for a citizenship or inheritance case. The National Archives of Georgia, Soviet-era village council records, collective farm lists and cemetery inscriptions are in Russian, in old Russian spelling and handwriting. We translate these records into English to genealogical standards - deciphering the handwriting, with notes on the old spelling and the historical forms of surnames (in the Canadian transliteration of the Kalmakoff, Popoff, Verigin type, as the client specifies). Where a Canadian authority needs it, the document also gets an apostille - we confirm the form of legalisation between Georgia and Canada before you order. The Georgian papers of Canadian and American descendants - kinship certificates, duplicates of old certificates - are translated into English.
Paravani and livestock farming
Around Lakes Paravani, Saghamo and Khanchali, Ninotsminda farms produce livestock, cheese and fish that sell on the Armenian and Georgian markets. The farms need veterinary certificates, animal registration records and customs documents in Russian for an Armenian buyer, and papers for livestock and feed brought in from Armenia in Georgian - for the National Food Agency. Instructions for European and Turkish feed, vaccines and machinery are translated from English and Turkish into Georgian. Projects linked to the protected area status of Lake Paravani - studies by international organisations, donor reports - move between English and Georgian in both directions.
Languages in orders from Ninotsminda
In Ninotsminda Russian is the language of border families, Armenian authorities and the Doukhobor archive - the largest share of orders. English is the language of Canadian and American descendants, donor projects and universal documents. Turkish appears in machinery and feed documents, German and Polish in the papers of young people who have gone to Europe. Ukrainian, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Dutch, Czech, Arabic and Chinese come from Ninotsminda only in single orders. Originals in Armenian only are priced individually.
How it works from Ninotsminda
A photo from either side of the border
Photos of the documents by WhatsApp to 501 113 200 or to info@targmanebi.ge - from Ninotsminda, Gyumri or Canada, whatever the time difference. A photo of the ID for each citizenship, for the name table.
The authority in two countries
The Georgian residence service, the Armenian cadastre or the Canadian immigration authority - the recipient decides the language, the apostille and the form of certification. We ask for a photo of the requirement or a link.
Russian and English translators
Family and border papers are handled by a Russian-language translator, archive and Canadian documents by an English-language one; handwriting and old spelling are checked separately.
Paper in Ninotsminda or a PDF in Canada
For a Ninotsminda client the courier brings the certified package on the weekly visit; a Canadian client receives the scanned certified translation by email, and the original by international post if needed.
Price and deadline for Ninotsminda
Ninotsminda is charged at Tbilisi rates, agreed after we see the document, and the courier comes once a week. A bilingual Armenian-Russian certificate into Georgian with notarization takes two to three days, a full residence package four to five days, a veterinary certificate and invoice with the bureau stamp the same or the next working day, and a genealogical archive record into English depends on the amount of handwriting, usually one to two days per page; a Georgian paper with an apostille for Armenia takes as long as the apostille does. Canadian and American clients can pay by international transfer, with the invoice in English. Archive and genealogical material is confidential, and family history is never passed to third parties. The bureau is run by Mariam Zumadze as a sole trader (ID 30601010853), a lawyer by education - residence, cadastre and citizenship terms are translated with their legal meaning in mind; an error of ours is corrected free of charge.
Your spouse is an Armenian citizen and needs residence in Ninotsminda? Buying a house in Gyumri? Looking from Canada for your grandmother's Gorelovka record? Need a Paravani farm certificate for Armenia? Send us the photos - we serve Ninotsminda from both sides of Bavra.
Call: 501 113 200Frequently asked questions - translation in Ninotsminda
My wife is from Gyumri, we live in Ninotsminda and she needs residence. Her papers are in Russian and Armenian - what gets translated?
The passport, the criminal record certificate and the marriage certificate, into Georgian with notarization, from the Russian field of the bilingual form. If there is an Armenian apostille, the apostille is translated too. The "-yan" form of the surname and the Georgian spelling are fixed in one table so that the residence service sees one person.
I live in Canada, and my grandmother was born in Gorelovka. I am looking for a Soviet village record. Will you translate it, and what will I pay?
Yes - we translate the handwritten Russian record into English to genealogical standards, with notes on the old spelling and transliteration; the price depends on the amount and condition of the handwriting and is set after we see the photo. We do not search the archive ourselves, but we can translate your request letter into Georgian.
I am buying a flat in Yerevan and have to take my Georgian passport and a certificate. Where do I get them certified?
The apostille on Georgian certificates is placed in Georgia - we collect the original by courier, have the apostille placed, translate it into Russian or Armenian and return it to Ninotsminda. The Armenian cadastre usually accepts a Russian translation; send us the exact requirement from the notary.
I sell livestock to Armenia and the veterinary certificate is in Georgian. Do they need Russian at the border?
Armenian border veterinary control accepts a Russian translation with the bureau stamp - usually ready as a file the same day. For a regular supplier we keep a template, and for each new batch only the numbers change.
The child was born in Gyumri and I need to enrol him at school in Ninotsminda. The certificate is in Armenian and Russian.
The birth certificate into Georgian with notarization, with the child's name matched to the parents' Georgian passports; the school often asks for the vaccination card as well - we translate it in the same package. The report card from the previous grade as needed.
Does the courier really come all the way to Ninotsminda?
Yes - together with Akhalkalaki, once a week; we tell you the day of the visit when you order. If you need it faster, you can collect it in Akhaltsikhe or at the Tbilisi office, and the electronic version comes as soon as it is ready.
Translation bureau in the other cities of Samtskhe-Javakheti
Akhalkalaki is Ninotsminda's neighbour, Akhaltsikhe is the regional centre, and Borjomi and Bakuriani are the resorts. Each city has its own page.